30 Years With Dr. Gerry Schlenker

Most of the student population was not even born when Dr. Gerry Schlenker first set foot onto the University of Sioux Falls. In fact, most of our parents were not even dating at that time.

Years ago when Dr. Schlenker was a student in the colligate world, he attended North Dakota State University. There he received his minor in mass communication. This minor would actually spark his interest in the media world saying “I knew if I were to pursue further academics, it would be in broadcasting.”

Following graduation from North Dakota State, Dr. Schlenker would teach media related subjects at the high school level. Wanting to go back to his roots of being “just an old farm boy from North Dakota”, Dr. Schlenker would then spend the next decade of his life farming.

The door for Dr. Schlenker to get back into academics was finally opened and he took the opportunity to get his masters degree from a combination of North Dakota State and Minnesota State Moorhead in broadcast production.

After being hired by the University of Sioux Falls, Dr. Schlenker says, “I knew if I wanted to receive tenure, I would have to acquire my doctorial degree.”

Mrs. Schlenker, Dr. Schlenker’s wife, was originally from Oregon and with those ties he was able to attend summer classes for a number of years to receive his PhD.

Dr. Schlenker was able to reflect on those summers saying, “We would literally pack up the family the day after graduation [at USF], head to Oregon for the first day of summer school,” he continues, “was out there for eight or ten weeks, scream back home just in time to start school here teaching classes.

Before going to school to receive his PhD, Dr. Schlenker’s work was primarily focused on the production of media. He decided he would focus his work for his PhD on the complete opposite of media. His PhD work consisted of studying theory, cultural analysis, and the study of how knowledge is produced and developed.

Dr. Schlenker was able to start the College Week project, which has given birth to the College Daily Project, and The Vessel project, now known as the College Monthly project. He sees joy in all of these projects because each semester he has a different group of students with differing personalities and they come together to produce professional pieces of work.

Through all of his work and studying, Dr. Schlenker always enjoys seeing one of his students go off into the professional world and report back to him with their successes and achievements. He talks about how he wants his students to leave campus and better the world through media.

“Ultimately what is important, is for students to be critical thinkers,” Dr. Schlenker says, “and to challenge them about their preexisting beliefs.”

Story by Evan Gentry